AppleScript to bath export from QuickTime: Can't get it to export as .mov instead of .mp4

Question

I need to export /compress a bunch of large .avis to .movs.

I found the Action Script below (taken from http://ldopa.net/2008/05/23/batch-export-for-quicktime-pro/) to do that.

It successfully takes the videos from a folder called "Input" on the desktop and exports them to a folder called "Export" on the desktop.

Only problem is though, it isn't exporting "with most recent settings" that I used in Quicktime. Furthermore, it exports it as .mp4 instead of .mov.

Note: the original script did say:

export front document to output_file as MPEG-4

But I changed it to:

export front document to output_file as QuickTime movie

And it's still exporting as mpeg-4.

Full script:

with timeout of 86400 seconds

    display dialog "Before beginning batch processing, make sure QuickTime Player is set to the desired export settings, and all videos to be processed are in a folder named ‘Input’ on the desktop." with icon note

    tell application "Finder"
     set the startup_disk to the name of the startup disk
    end tell

    set user to do shell script "whoami"
    set input_folder_name to "Input"
    set input_folder to startup_disk & ":Users:" & user & ":Desktop:" & input_folder_name & ":"
    set user_desktop to startup_disk & ":Users:" & user & ":Desktop:"
    set output_folder to startup_disk & ":Users:" & user & ":Desktop:Output:"
    set file_extension to "_export.mp4"

    try
     tell application "Finder"
      make new folder at user_desktop with properties {name:"Output"}
     end tell
    end try

    try
     set the_folder_list to list folder input_folder without invisibles
     repeat with x from 1 to count of the_folder_list
      set the_file to input_folder & item x of the_folder_list
      set output_file to output_folder & item x of the_folder_list & file_extension
      tell application "QuickTime Player"
       activate
       open the_file
       export front document to output_file as QuickTime movie using most recent settings with replacing
       close front document
      end tell
     end repeat
    on error
     display dialog "This script requires a folder named ‘" & input_folder_name & "‘ located on the desktop." with icon stop
    end try

    beep

end timeout

Answer 1

Just a quick shot, but you could try to change the following line

set file_extension to "_export.mp4"

to

set file_extension to "_export.mov"

No idea if this will do the trick, but it may help.

Answer 2

You should use a combination.

Change the file_extension to .mov (as Bjoern) said and change the MPEG-4 to Quicktime Movie.

Your change would export the movie as a MOV-file but not change the file extension. (If you tried to open it with a MOV-only-player it should be able to play the movie)

Cheers,

Answer 3

If you want better control than just using the previous settings, you can save the export settings. Set up an export with the settings how you want it and then use something like

tell quicktime player
    tell movie 1
        save export settings for Quick Time Movie to mysettingsfile--or whatever format you exported to
    end tell
end tell

I don't know why you have to specify a document, rather than the app, but that's how it is in the dictionary.

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You could also use a programme like MPEG Streamclip (Free) or ffmpeg (FOSS, command line only, but GUIs do exist) to do the same thing. MPEG Streamclip comes with a batch list facility and can convert pretty much anything to anything else. Saves you having to reinvent the wheel.